Ghost Moon
by Diane Danger
Summary: Suze's dealt with angry ghosts, homicidal killers, and wannabe vampires, but can she handle werewolves? A Mediator X Blood and Chocolate crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own The Mediator series by Meg Cabot or the novel Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I'm just temporarily commandeering their characters.

Author's note: I've been reading The Mediator series since the newer edition came out so I guess I could still be categorised as a newbie. Anyway, please give me chance here, I really tried my best for this crossover, which might I add was a bugger in a few areas. But hey, that's the challenge of a crossover right? Enough of my babble and on with the show!

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The problem with going to the same small school is that you'll probably get the same teacher, every year, who never changes their tune.

"You'll be working in partners and assigned a topic to which a presentation will be made in class within two weeks," Mr. Walden announced proudly. He sounded about as happy as I would have been at a Jimmy Choo sale. Of where I was planning to head to after school.

"Can we pick our partners this time?" Adam McTavish whined. Behind him, my best friend CeeCee rolled her eyes in annoyance, but you could tell she agreed with him. I agreed with him too. The last thing I wanted was to be paired with Debbie Mancuso again. I was lucky I got any sleep last time.

"Part of life is working with a variety of people and as part of your ongoing education, you'll be exposed to a variety of people."

"Exposed how?" Finn Wagner, which he and his posse laughed out loud.

There weren't that many things Mr. Walden was afraid of but these new guys looked like they belonged more in Carmel High then Junipero Mission Academy. But apparently, according to CeeCee, the school newspaper editor, the family they came from ran a fairly successful country inn business out east so five nice donations were more than welcome.

While Mr. Walden was about to use his favourite method of discipline, throwing chalk, the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard from the back of the room. Four of the new students were guys; their leader was their cousin Vivian. She gave them one of those looks and all four instantly shut up.

"As I was saying, I will assign the partners." And then he began listing people along with their topics. I took this as an opportunity to zone out. Moving out to California two years ago had its advantages. Looking out the window, I was trying to figure out which of the new Chloe dresses (discount outlets, got to love them) I wanted to wear for my date tonight with Jesse DeSilva, my boyfriend. He got off classes early today and he had the evening off so he was taking me out on a surprise date.

Usually I don't like surprises considering my life, but any surprise from Jesse had always been nice. And if I got hooked up with Debbie or Kelly Prescott, I so deserved a nice surprise, though a new pair of Jimmy Choos could also hold me to sanity.

Anger on the other hand would have been debatable after Mr. Walden chucked a piece of chalk at me. "Miss Simon, I said go join your partner."

Some of the jocks were tempted to snicker but they knew better. They knew when to be fast learners. After all, they had two years to learn what I could do to them if they decided to piss me off. I grabbed CeeCee's arm as she headed in Adam's direction, "Who am I with again?"

"Vivian Gandillon, the new girl."

I looked at her and got a good look for the first time in the month's she's been here. She was tall, leggy, and blonde. On the first day she arrived, she had the entire male population of the senior grade drooling over her, not that I could blame them. She was model perfect with big breasts, small waist, and curves that she somehow flaunted within the dress code.

I'll admit it was fun to watch Kelly and Debbie go green with envy, not to mention someone else who didn't take trash from anyone. But if there was anything anyone learned, Vivian was no dumb blonde. She always had this fierce look in her eyes that told people to instantly back off. Though, if I had cousins like hers, I would probably be like that too. I had similar relationship with my older stepbrothers.

Combined with her black leather and roughed-up wardrobe, she was more of a biker chick than a biker chic Catholic girl.

"Is there something wrong?" A low voice riveted in front of me, and my eyes focused right into Vivian's eyes. You know how they say eyes are windows to the soul? Well judging by this girl's eyes, she was pissed at something, and that something was I. Guess staring was definitely rude in her book.

Great, this was a new record for me. Usually it took me ten seconds to make this kind of impression. But this girl was no pushover like Debbie was.

Maybe Debbie wouldn't have been so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own The Mediator series by Meg Cabot or the novel Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I'm just temporarily commandeering their characters.

_AN: I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed (and even those who didn't reviewed but enjoyed the chapter anyway) the first chapter of Ghost Moon. In order to avoid any confusion in the future, I will be labeling at the beginning of each chapter whose point of view it is. Because Ms. Klause had written Blood and Chocolate in limited 3rd person, that will be what I will be doing for any chapters from Vivian's point of view. Hope you enjoy the 2nd chapter where it is (still) in Suze's point of view._

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"You look beautiful tonight _querida_." Jesse whispered in my ear as we sat down on the warm sand. 

Well I had better look beautiful after all my careful planning. Not only did I score a pair of Jimmy Choo slides but I also snagged a Vivienne Westwood dress at a fraction of the cost. Jesse usually told me that I was beautiful but you can never be too careful. I mean, not that I'm jealous or anything, but his coworkers at Carmel-by-the-Sea Historical Society were older, hotter, and somehow still looked good in their work uniforms. Some things just aren't fair, I tell you.

"Jesse, did you really make all this?" By this, I was talking about the dinner picnic laid out before us. It was a spectacle that would have made my stepfather, Andy Ackerman a.k.a. Handy Andy, proud.

Jesse coughed a bit and I knew that was the first sign of embarrassment. Before, it had been impossible to ruffle any of his feathers. He always seemed so calm and self-assured. Hey, I'm no wallflower either but next to him I might as well have been. It could be really frustrating when you're around someone who always lands on their feet.

"Remember how during the winter months I appeared to be preoccupied?"

Tell me about it. I practically had to drag him to go out with CeeCee and Adam for New Year's. "Yeah?"

"During that time period, I had immersed myself in the art of food preparation."

"You mean you learned how to cook." Now this was interesting. Maybe not to you but considering where Jesse came from, this was newsworthy.

That was when he started to babble. "There is only so much I could take of instant food, I don't know how my classmates can stand it. Considering I'm also low on funds, I couldn't necessarily hire a cook anymore than I could impose on your family."

Uh huh, yeah, I believed that. "Then what's this?"

He coughed again. Jesse must have been really embarrassed about learning how to cook. I wonder if there was a story in here that I would have liked to hear. "According to Rachel, in this century, the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach."

Not necessarily true, but I was flattered. It was a nice surprise. I never had a boyfriend make something for me, much less cook. Then again, I never had a boyfriend before Jesse. On the bright side, the wait was worth it for a hottie like him and knew how to cook.

That was when he kissed me and what a kiss it was. His hands started gliding down my shoulders, slowly down to my waist. Now we were getting somewhere. I tell you if there's anything harder than getting the limited edition handbags of a Prada sale, it's convincing Jesse about the ways of the 21st century. But that's what I get for having an ex-ghost for a boyfriend. Yeah, an ex-ghost.

I was born with the natural talent to see ghosts. I was later told by a fortuneteller back in my old home of Brooklyn, New York that I was a mediator. Someone who helped wandering souls a.k.a. ghosts pass on to the other side. The problem is that not every ghost wants to finish their unfinished business. So I have to help them along and a number aren't very receptive to my help. It's a crummy job, I tell you. No overtime, no Christmas bonus, no pay whatsoever.

Through some quirk of time travel (aren't we mediators special? Not only can we see the dead but we can also travel through time) I accidentally brought an alive Jesse from the past who ended up merging with the present ghost Jesse. He ended up being able to see the ghosts as well so at least now when I go ghost hunting, I have a partner I don't mind hanging around with.

Unfortunately his mind is still in the 50s, the 1850s. Sometimes what he does is sweet; other times I let him live and learn. And he was doing a good job right now because his hands were sliding up my thighs from underneath my dress. I may work with the dead but I'm still a hot-blooded teenager. I silently thanked Ms. Westwood for designing this dress with a built-in-bra. Only one more step to go.

My hands were curling around his neck into his silky black hair. He had stopped kissing my mouth and started kissing my cheek, then my neck, my collarbone, and then…he stopped. His gentlemanly morals just had to come back right now didn't they? It's damn frustrating if you ask me. But judging from how quickly he righted my clothes and myself back, it wasn't his gentlemanly morals that made an appearance and put him on guard. "Susannah."

It was the man standing to our side. He was about Andy's age, maybe a few years younger. Either way, he was old enough to be my father. He didn't look particularly disturbed by our scene nor did he have a perverted gaze. There was a glow to his form, which was the first clue to his ghosthood. His clothes were modern so at least he was in the same century.

"Vivian," he murmured.

"Uh, the name is Suze."

The ghost shook his head. "No, Vivian, my daughter. She is here?"

Another thing about ghosts: some tend to follow you, and I mean FOLLOW you.

"Vivian Gandillon." He clarified for us, probably thinking we didn't understand.

"Yeah, I know her. She's in my class."

"What message would you like us to deliver to your daughter?" Jesse asked gently.

"Tell her Axel is alive."

"You mean a car axle?"

"No, no, Axel, our enemy." Okay, maybe I was wrong about the century. "She needs to know in order to protect her people."

Now I was lost but Jesse had this introspective look on his face. "Go on."

"Axel survived the fall."

"What fall?"

"The one I drew him to." Now that was a new one. Was Axel some ex-boyfriend? I heard of overprotective fathers but this seemed a little far-fetched if you asked me.

"Your daughter might not believe us, so please, start your story from the beginning."

"Before the fire, I had to punish the Five. They had gotten too out of control. If I could, I would have saved them all but only four could go through the Trial by Fur. Axel had to die for the danger he had put us in."

"Whoa, whoa, there. Who's us?" I interrupted.

"The pack."

If I was lost before, I was without a roadmap or a GPS system right now. What did he think his family was?

Fortunately, Jesse was a step ahead of me. "Why do you choose to call your family a pack?"

"We are not like you."

"Tell me about it. Not everyone can see ghosts." I muttered. This was getting too weird even for my life.

The man shook his head. "We are not human, we are _homo lupus_."

"You're human wolves?" Jesse asked.

"That is a relative term. We have accepted the term wolf for our other forms because that is what it closely resembles."

"Wait, are you telling us there's such things as werewolves?"

"Are there such people who can see the dead?"

He got me there. "Okay, we'll tell her."

"May we have you name in case your daughter still doesn't believe us?"

"Ian Gandillon. But be careful. Our kind doesn't take kindly to human strangers."

Before either Jesse or I could say anything else, he vanished. That's most ghosts for you, no manners at all.

I laid back on the sand, blowing my hair out of my face. "This is just great. Why can't anyone who transfers in be normal?"

"Susannah, we must help him." Jesse stated sternly.

"Uh Jesse, in case you didn't hear correctly, that guy just said his werewolf pals don't take kindly to strangers. So if they get pissed, what are we going to do? Shoot them with silver bullets?"

"Perhaps if we approach this Vivian without hostility, she will not see us as a threat."

Geez, I swear, there are days I wonder if Jesse's been hanging around Father Dominic too much. I admit, there are people, both dead and alive, who are more receptive to mediator help, but generally they're not. I've had buildings fall on me, been almost drowned on a number of occasions, been chased with ghostly minions (long story), and, oh, my absolute favourite, being knocked around just because I tried to help. I don't know what kind of ghosts Jesse's been mediating but definitely not what I go through on a regular basis.

Then again, maybe they were all female. I know if he had been mediating me, I would have been more than happy to listen. I wasn't blessed with that good of looks. I'm not a dog but I'm not exactly Keira Knightly either. Jesse, on the other hand, was up there with Orlando Bloom and Antonio Banderas.

So now I had to find someway to tell Vivian, without pissing her off or getting eaten, that her father had a message about this Axel being alive. And not only was I dealing with a biker chic who hung around bad ass muscles everyday but they were also werewolves. This was so not the nice surprise I had in mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own The Mediator series by Meg Cabot or the novel Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I'm just temporarily commandeering their characters.

_AN: Hello again, with the third chapter completed earlier than usual. I apologize for being such a slow writer but I have such a hard time with Suze's voice, which is probably why this chapter was easier seeing as it's from Vivian's point of view. Thanks to everyone who reads and/or reviews this story. Please enjoy._

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Wood and metal screamed for mercy, as Vivian slammed the door, not bothering to hold back her supernatural strength. It was bad enough that they had to flee this far westward. The residing pack had offered their assistance, so why were both packs snipping and snarling at each other's throats? 

_Oh yeah_, Vivian sighed, her hands ruffling her hair, _pissing contests, how could I forget?_

The old Victorian manor housed everyone, so as to not separate the pack like last time. The better to keep everyone from being targets of divide and conquer. For the first time in weeks, however, their temporary den was empty and devoid of life. Everyone else was either at work or at school. She had needed some time alone.

If she could have seen herself a year ago, she wouldn't know whether to be sympathetic or disgusted with herself now. Who would have thought she would be Queen Bitch before getting her driver's license? They had ran this far but how much more running could they do?

Her ancestors fled around New England to throw off attention; it was Gabriel's idea to throw off anyone else even more by coming here. What her mate didn't know that she knew was the fact that he had them run to the west to avoid attracting attention on the neighboring packs after last year's fiasco.

No pack worth their hide wanted them near by. They were marked, poisoned, cursed, damned, unwanted, almost abandoned by their own kind. Aunt Persia suspected hunters but they didn't exist, did they? No, back before the fire two years ago, before their first move, those humans had only suspected that they weren't human but they did know they were loups-garoux. Could they?

Warmth whispered into Vivian's ear and her instincts took over. The aforementioned instincts would have been a lot more useful had she not landed on her back.

"You should be at work." She murmured testily to her "attacker".

Gabriel grinned down at her. "And you should be at school."

"Last period was for the Catholics. Nothing about the Moon or the Forest God. Guess it was the wrong religion class for me."

He nuzzled her cheek. " I find it hard to believe that's the only reason."

"Get off me." Vivian bristled.

"As you wish." He murmured as he rolled off her to her side. They remained like that in silence with only the sound of breaths and heartbeats filling the air. Gabriel broke the stillness. "Did something happen at school?"

She twisted her head to him. "Why do you ask?"

"It's not another…?"

His mate sprang to her feet with a snarl. "Is that what you think is wrong? That I would side with them while we're being hunted by them?"

He pulled her back down into his arms. "I never said nor assumed that. Despite what has happened, humans do have their good points."

Vivian just stared at him.

"Don't give me that look, Viv. After what had happened with Aiden, you've only let yourself see the worst side of humans."

"Considering they're hunting us, do you blame me?"

"Hunters are after us. Humans are not."

"The hunters are humans."

"But not all humans are hunters."

"Why are you defending them?"

"You're letting your prejudices cloud your judgement." Gabriel laid the barest of kisses on her forehead. "You're still healing the hurt."

She curled up closer, burying her head in his chest. Warmth and wood smoke filled her nose from his latest job. "I don't want to be tempted again."

"There is nothing wrong with befriending humans. They look like us in one of our forms. They are around and outnumber us. But they act like us sometimes…sometimes it's like they understand us.

"When you think about it, humans and wolf-kind aren't so different. A majority of us run in packs; rarely do either run solitary unless we can't help it. Perhaps it is that need, to be with someone else, is why neither side can distinguish the line that divides us, sometimes."

"I remember," she began pulling herself up slightly, supported by her elbows, "that during the year in Maryland, I craved for other friends not just age-mates. It wasn't just Aiden who drew me in, it was his friends. They had called themselves the Amoeba, their pack. I felt like I belonged in their pack. They laughed with me and defended me against this little bitch. I felt that with time…maybe I could actually be one of them."

Gabriel ran hand through her hair. "That's all part of the spell that completes the illusion that we're the same. But illusion or not, there's nothing wrong with being friends with humans. You can't just avoid them forever because of the actions of one."

She shook her head. "But after Aiden, they all turned on me."

"And wouldn't our kind have done the same had the positions been reversed?"

Why was he pushing her back towards them? It wasn't as if she couldn't function in every day society. In fact, for this school year, she thought she had been doing a pretty good job of intermingling with humans without getting too close. She was civil, polite, and discreet. She never gave more in than she had to. She hadn't even made any enemies, well except for a few females who couldn't help but dislike her attractiveness to their males. They didn't have much to worry about in that area; she would never fall for another human again, not if she could help it. Besides, she had a loving mate right now, so why would she even bother with meat-boys?

She was glad that because her mate was distracted enough by her dislike for humans that he didn't suspect what was really bothering her. Most teenagers, even wolf-kind ones, worried about acne, parent problems, and school. And here she was, ruling a pack, trying to calm down the fearful protests, and protect her people. Unfortunately some of her people weren't quite so receptive to her help. If the age to fight for the position of queen was sixteen, then why were they snarling so much?

But maybe it was because some of them still didn't trust her after some of the things that she did last summer. Maybe they were right, maybe she didn't have the experience to be the queen but she did have their best interests at heart. Ideally, they, all of the pack down to the last pup, were supposed to go back to running a country inn, still connected to the human world but apart from it. That would have been the case had there not been another fire in what would have been their new home in Vermont. Persia Devereux had foretold of a bad omen when the blood red full moon had arisen before the fire…but that was only superstition wasn't it? Sure a good number of human lore on their kind had a ring of truth to them but perhaps this time it was rather their fear more than an actual message from the Moon that had led them to this fear.

Vivian, had no idea how wrong she was until the door swept open with her mother Esme and William shouldering Finn, William's twin brother, inside. _Sweet Moon,_ she thought as she pulled herself away from Gabriel to go get the first-aid kit.

"What happened?" she heard her mate's cool and calm voice from the living room.

"Finn and I were leaving school, but I had forgotten something in my locker. After I went back to get it, Finn was like…" William was sputtering, close to tears.

_Willi…_Vivian's heart went out to the gentler of the twins. In fact the gentlest of her age-mates, her best friends.

"What are we going to do? They've found us." Esme's voice cracked between terror and anger.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Carmel might be a small town but it does have its gangs."

"No stinking little meat-boys did this to me," Finn growled as Vivian returned back with the kit and started swabbing antiseptic on to the wound on his neck.

Although he was bleeding heavily, once most of the blood had been cleaned off, his injuries didn't appear as fatal. At least for wolf-kind. His left eye was black and bloodied. What was left of his shirt had to be cut off with Gabe's switchblade in order to prevent their kind's quick healing from absorbing the fabric into the wounds. Vivian hadn't seen Finn this injured since the original Five had been sentenced to the Trial by Fang. The pair of tweezers she had been using to dig out the couple of bullets from his leg had just pulled out a silver bullet.

Esme's breath caught. Vivian felt faint. Gabe's look of reassurance turned to shock. William gulped what could have sounded like his last breath.

"Well that explains why it had hurt so much." Finn grinned but the playful mood was disturbed when he winced from Vivian pulling out another silver bullet.

"Where's Persia?" Esme demanded.

"Right here." The elder appeared in the doorway as if by magic. "You were lucky, boy, that they didn't hit anything vital." She said as she examined his wounds. "You'll live."

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" William fumed.

"I told you the hunters were coming. Our pack has been too foolish." Persia voiced her opinion calmly as she applied salve to the younger wolf's skin. "They're trying to smoke us out. They don't know for sure or else we wouldn't be having this conversation right now…I need some more hot water."

Vivian complied as she wrestled her worry down. Will had a point; why couldn't these _humans_ just leave them alone? Her pack had righted the wrongs of both Axel and Astrid. And how did thee humans keep on their trail? Each time it was under a year before they would lose a home. _Or future home_. She mentally commented grimly, wringing out the water from a fresh clean cloth. They had been discreet in finding the property in Vermont just as they had to their tentative, new, home in California. But for now, they needed to lie low in this small town to catch their bearings. Could it have been someone within their insurance company? That would certainly explain why these disasters seem to be following them. But why wait?

_Think Vivian, you are a hunter but now you're also the prey._ To snuff out the rest of them, just as Aunt Persia had said. Or was it to pick them off one by one as Gabriel had foreseen the possibility.

She threw the last rag in frustration. All she had right now was questions. No answers say for some half-hearted theories. Why were these things happening now? Out in the living room, she heard Gabriel continue to discuss the frightening matter calmly with Persia.

How was her mate so nonchalant? Why wasn't he worried? _Well he is eight years older than you. That's almost a decade. You're still a baby compared to him._ Now that she thought about it, she didn't know that much about Gabe's hidden past, the past that not even his own family knew about.

What she did know was that he wasn't as worried as her…or was he? "So this is where you've been hiding?"

Vivian dropped her instinctual guard when she saw her mother. She gave a small smile, "I wasn't hiding Mom."

"That doesn't mean you aren't scared."

"Am I that obvious?"

Esme didn't answer while she hugged her daughter. Vivian felt as safe as she did as a pup. But the reality was that mentally she stopped being a child after her father's death and by pack law when she became queen. "It gets easier Vivie. You're more like your father every day. I know you'll, you and Gabriel, will find a way and make the right choice for all of us."

"Mom, I'm still in high school. How can I?"

"You proved your worth by saving me and your willingness by willing to sacrifice yourself. I have faith in you. You're my kid after all…mine and Ian's. You were born to do this."

Somehow, despite all of her mother's encouragement, Vivian was not so reassured.


End file.
